MANIFESTO FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A THRIVING COMMUNITY OF AFRICAN-EUROPEAN STARTUP ECOSYSTEMS

With the support of the European Commission, and contributions from a wide range of stakeholders from Europe and Africa, on 27 November during the European African Business Forum (EABF), Startup Europe Africa Network will launch a startup manifesto.The goal of this manifesto is to promote that European and African entrepreneurs, startups and all ecosystem builders engage in a community of networked ecosystems that foster the creation and growth of Startups and Scale Ups, exploiting opportunities from both regions and markets.

Contribute and endorse the manifesto !By endorsing the manifesto you will contribute to its promotion.

The manifesto is available below : - Comment the manifesto here. - Endorse the manifesto here.

- Why do we need a Manifesto to start with?The manifesto has been prepared by Startup Europe Africa Network as a tool calling for political support for connecting the European and African startups ecosystems.- What is real the objective of the manifesto ?To get political support for strengthening collaboration between European and African startups and startups ecosystem builders.Challenges faced by European and African startups are very similar and there is lot to learn from each other on existing initiatives in both continents.- Who exactly is it for?The target audience are European and African policy makers and the beneficiaries are European and African startups.- How will it be used?The manifesto is an open document. We welcome any constructive feedback and concrete proposals. The draft was prepared by Startup Europe Africa Network but is opened for comments from all stakeholders. The manifesto was launched in Brussels on 6 November. Several African organisations were invited to comment on it. The network also organised a discussion around some of the Manifesto related topics on 27 November in Abidjan to get further input as and used this event also to identify key local stakeholders.- When will it come into effect?We do not know. We hope to have positive impact and as soon as possible.Significant work (probono) has been put on this initiative with strong enthusiasm and good will but the results of all these efforts will depend on a constructive collaboration between all relevant European and African organisations.